State laws offer new tool to fight traffic

The law in question, Senate Bill 79, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), allows five- to seven-story apartments within a half mile of most Caltrain stations in San Mateo County (within a quarter mile for smaller cities).

SB 79 reflects the state’s response to auto gridlock and the ongoing housing shortage: Homes near transit will help every city foster vibrant transportation, promote housing affordability, and ultimately save money.

Most urgently, the law will reduce traffic by supporting local transit ridership.

Local transit needs riders to succeed, and the most likely transit riders are nearby residents. Research in Transportation, the leading journal about multi-model transportation topics, found that more than 50% of residents living within a half mile of a transit stop will walk to commuter rail; almost 90% walk within a quarter mile.

Caltrain has already seen big gains after electrifying its trains — annual ridership surged from 6.2 million in 2024 to 9.1 million in 2025 — but the agency continues to face long-term funding shortfalls, even if Bay Area voters pass the regional transit measure this November. By promoting more housing near transit, SB 79 sows the seeds for continuing to improve our transit system and reduce auto-dependence.

Beyond reducing traffic and promoting sustainability, SB 79 will reduce costs for cities to comply with state and regional housing laws, unlocking new funding opportunities.

For example, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Transit-Oriented Communities Policy, adopted earlier this year, requires cities to meet minimum residential density thresholds within a half mile of transit stations as a condition of eligibility for regional infrastructure funding. MTC has set aside $45 million in a dedicated TOC Incentive Program, part of an overall $820 million federal funding package running through 2030, that cities can compete for by demonstrating compliance across those four categories on a 100-point scoring system.

SB 79 eases compliance substantially: All areas subject to SB 79 will automatically receive full credit for the residential density standard — the most demanding component of the program. Peninsula cities served by Caltrain and BART can stop spending staff time and legal resources proving density compliance, and instead direct those resources toward the other criteria to qualify for infrastructure funding.

Longer term, SB 79 will speed up compliance with the state’s housing goals. San Mateo County jurisdictions collectively spent millions of dollars and years of staff time updating their housing elements to demonstrate local capacity for new homes. SB 79 provides a straightforward process to plan for housing that will make future compliance much easier.

Furthermore, SB 79 provides flexibility for local planning efforts. The law gives cities broad local control to exempt historic sites and shift density around within the half-mile transit radius. Otherwise, it aligns with widely used laws like State Density Bonus Law, the Housing Accountability Act, SB 423, AB 130, the Permit Streamlining Act, and others universally used by new homes in San Mateo County.

By combining SB 79 with these other laws, projects will be able to move faster through the local process. City planning staff long burdened by extensive public hearings and reviews will be able to ministerially approve projects that already comply with local law.

Housing from SB 79 will support broader equity goals: Lower-income residents and much of our local workforce have been forced into insecure housing, resigned to long commutes from far-away cities, or pushed out of the region entirely. SB 79 will help cities promote housing options reflecting a more equitable future in San Mateo County.

Across the Peninsula, cities are demonstrating strong leadership on SB 79. Menlo Park, Redwood City, Belmont, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Daly City and others are embracing the law. Unlike San Francisco, which temporarily exempted large swaths of the city from SB 79, most Peninsula cities are letting the law go into effect with only minor modifications, such as exemptions for historic properties. Some may use the local control provisions increase densities on some sites and decrease them on others — but the vast majority are forgoing loopholes to seize the opportunities the law provides.

The benefits of additional housing near transit will demonstrate San Mateo County’s regional leadership, showcasing more financially sound, sustainable, affordable communities — and ending the scourge of gridlock.

Jeremy Levine is the policy manager for the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County.